pantheon-rise-of-the-fallen
Latest
Pantheon's website wields crowd development tools
Visionary Realms is hoping that players will step up to contribute more than just money to Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. The studio announced today that it is structuring its website so that it can be used for crowd development going forward. The studio said that it wants to involve the community in the design and development of Pantheon with these tools. Fans can use the website to contribute to the wiki, talk with the developers, vote on Think Tank issues, create guilds, write blogs, and be a part of weekly roundtable discussions. [Source: Visionary Realms press release]
Meet Pantheon's undead minotaurs and be gored by them
You know the saying: You can't keep a good berzerking minotaur down. And in the multiverse of Pantheon, you won't have to. In a Pantheon dev blog posted today, the team introduced the Taurokians, giant, fearsome minotaurs plucked from their home planet and put on Terminus to survive: "Their martial prowess originated from their culture that was steeped in brutal warfare and ritualistic dark arts. They learned to master the secrets of steel and iron, forging some of the finest armor and weapons ever wielded on Terminus." While they did fine for a while, their small numbers coupled with a battle gone sour resulted in the Taurokians' extermination. But magic being what it is, the minotaurs came back as hulking undead skeletons looking for more fights.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding February 23 - March 1, 2014
This week's Make My MMO adds Trials of Ascension's Light the Forge campaign, which is Chaos Forge's company-specific (i.e., non-Kickstarter) bid to raise $40,000. The fantasy sandbox canceled its initial Kickstarter campaign because it "failed in showing its true potential," according to a news posting on the ToA website. If the Light the Forge drive is successful, the devs will use the $40,000 to finish the game's demo and return to Kickstarter in the hopes of attracting additional funding. Head past the cut for a breakdown of other crowdfunded MMO projects for the week ending March 1st, 2014.
Pantheon's Kickstarter comes up short, development to continue
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen has concluded its Kickstarter campaign without reaching its $800,000 funding goal. Lead developer Brad McQuaid isn't deterred, though, as you'll find out if you've got the time to read a lengthy launch letter he posted earlier today. What's it launching? Well, a new Pantheon website, for starters. McQuaid also tells fans that development on the fantasy title will continue as Visionary Realms seeks traditional investors and sets up its own direct crowdfunding apparatus on the new site. McQuaid insists there's a market for Pantheon, writing that we "strongly believe there's a real demand for an MMO that builds solidly on the principles of the past, reaching back to EverQuest and even the MUDs before it." He also offers his take on why Pantheon's Kickstarter fell short of the mark.
Pantheon update talks Planes of Arcana
Pantheon's Kickstarter page has updated with a knowledge dump that covers the game's Planes of Arcana. Said planes are the "fundamental elements that hold the fabric of existence together within the Pantheon universe." The known planes include Terminus, Myraxys, Astral, Vitalus, Psionic, and Primal. Pantheon's chaos magic is also profiled towards the end of the update, which you can read by clicking through the links below.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen outlines post-Kickstarter plans
With 4 days to go and about $400,000 left to raise, it doesn't appear that Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is going to hit its goal on Kickstarter. Has this dissuaded Brad McQuaid and his team? Not in the slightest. The latest update posted to the campaign acknowledges that the project might not make it over the finish line, but there are plans in place for funding even if the game doesn't draw in quite enough before Saturday. Once the funding campaign wraps up, supporters will be able to pledge money directly to the game via PayPal, along with subscribing to the site at various tiers for more site functionality and features. No word on the costs of these subscriptions yet. So if you're deeply invested in supporting the game even if its first funding push doesn't go through, you should keep your eyes open for how to give the developers money directly after the end of the Kickstarter.
Pantheon brings back the fun of a corpse run
Is it slightly disturbing that the MMO community has integrated and accepted the phrase "corpse run" without batting an eye at this point? Corpse runs are very much on the mind of Brad McQuaid, who says that Pantheon will be bringing them back as a "consequence of death" in the game world. When a player dies in Pantheon, he or she will have the option to wait for a resurrection or to be reborn without all of that character's gear and weapons. In either event, getting back to one's corpse is of utmost importance because it will not only restore lost gear, but some of the experience lost on death as well. Oh yes, Pantheon will have XP loss on death. Other players can help out with resurrection or retrieval spells, or players may beseech their deity for help at a cost. In non-morbid news, Pantheon posted information and lore on the Sunken Sanctum, a marshland ruins that will be a formidable dungeon. [Thanks to Boinya for the tip!]
Brad McQuaid looks for 'angel investors' for Pantheon
With less than half the funds raised for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen and only eight days to go in his Kickstarter campaign, Visionary Realms CEO Brad McQuaid appears to be looking for alternate sources of funding for the game. "If anyone knows an angel investor or other type of investor who might be interested in investing in [Visionary Realms], please let me know," McQuaid tweeted on Wednesday. Even with this plea, McQuaid said that he and his team would not abandon the project even if the Kickstarter goal isn't met: "NOT giving up on [Kickstarter]! People are super excited about Pantheon, as are we. This game is going to be developed one way or another! Whether we meet [the Kickstarter goal] or not, we will have all of the [Kickstarter] info on our site and the ability to pledge there. Pantheon has amazing momentum behind it right now, and we're going to keep it that way!"
Pantheon Kickstarter updated with info on two stretch goal races
Brad McQuaid and Visionary Realms have updated the Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen Kickstarter project. The latest post dives deeper into the lore behind the T'Jinn and the Vrilaska, both races that will be included with the game should it reach a stretch goal of $2.5 million. For reference, Pantheon is currently sitting at $382,298 raised of its $800,000 funding goal with nine days remaining. For what it's worth, the T'Jinn are magic beings composed of arcane particles who were previously bound into servitude by mages but earned freedom thanks to the efforts of a goddess. The Vrilaska are reptilian humanoids of great agility and strength who were among the first to arrive in Terminus. The Kickstarter campaign for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen ends February 22nd, 2014. [Thanks to Josh for the tip]
Pantheon summons the spirit of the Shaman class
Each new day brings new information on Brad McQuaid's Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen in addition to pushing the game's Kickstarter campaign slightly closer to its February 22nd funding deadline. Today's update covers the Shaman, a healer/debuffer/support class that utilizes the spirits to enhance the power of his group while weakening enemies. The Shaman has two specializations from which to choose. Ritualist enables the Shaman to dance and chant in order to summon spirits that can be commanded to action, while Spirit Warden gives the Shaman the ability to buff teammates with the power of his spirit. Shaman players can choose between Ogre or Dwarf; more options may be made available if the game reaches one of several stretch goals that involve adding new races. Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is currently at $365,667 raised of its $800,000 funding goal with 10 days remaining.
Pantheon talks 'The Gnome,' 12 days remain on Kickstarter campaign
Mysterious, diminutive creatures that love magic are standard fare for fantasy MMOs, and Brad McQuaid's Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is no exception. Visionary Realms, which is attempting to raise $800,000 via Kickstarter to develop Pantheon, has posted an update diving deeper into the game's race of tiny "secretive sorcerers." Originating from the world of Aruska, gnomes are creatures whose mastery of magic has made them "one of the more proficient crafters of magical items and allowed them to unlock the arcane potential of even the most mundane of items." According to the lore, Pantheon's gnomes are slightly antisocial creatures with a penchant for hoarding who destroyed their magical troves after a conflict with a tribe of humans. The locations of the new troves are unknown, even to the gnomes left behind. Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen has raised $360,000 of its $800,000 funding goal with 12 days remaining. Gnomes (and halflings) will only be added if Pantheon reaches $2,000,000 in funding, which at this point is starting to look like a serious long shot.
Pantheon reveals class/race combos
If you're pulling for Pantheon, then you might be daydreaming about what class/race combination you'd want to play if the game is made. Visionary Realms hears you (it's inside of your head), and it released a chart showing the classes available for each race. Some of Pantheon's races are at an obvious disadvantage when it comes to the total number of available classes at the moment, as Humans have six while Dwarves and Ogres have three apiece. However, Ogres do get an exclusive class -- the Shaman -- and can use that to boost self-esteem if needed. The Kickstarter project also revealed a new stretch goal: the Halfling race. Halflings will be added to the game alongside Gnomes if Pantheon races $2 million or more. [Thanks to Josh for the tip!]
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding January 26 - February 8, 2014
The crowdfunding train just keeps rolling right along, with passengers always coming and going. New passengers hop aboard while others hop off at their desired destination. Sadly, some have to disembark early -- such is the case with Universe Rush and Antilia. Although the Kickstarter campaign fell far short of its goal, Antilia does plan to continue development on its own. On the brighter side of things, some passengers reached their stop; Tales From The Strange Universe reached its goal, and both it and Novus AEterno (which brought in over 3.5 times its initial goal) will now take their places in the funded category. The Repopulation, earning over 175K during this latest Kickstarter run, disembarks at Betawatch station thanks to its ongoing alpha testing. Catch up on all the news for all these titles as they journey through crowdfunding here in Make My MMO.
Pantheon explains how a wizard does it
The sad reality is that with each passing year it is less likely that a very large man will enter your life to inform you that you are, in fact, a wizard, Harry. Even more so if your name isn't Harry. So perhaps you can console yourself by playing a wizard in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, slinging destructive spells left and right and holding on to the last remnants of your dwindling sanity as you do so. Or perhaps not holding on to those remnants, as one of the class specialties, Frenzy, is specifically for casters who have let themselves go completely bonkers and derive power from that madness. The other specialty, Aspect, allows the wizard to maintain sanity through martial perfection, creating shrouds of mana and summoning duplicates for various functions. Take a look at the full reveal for more details on the lore and mechanics of these casters.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen reveals the mind-blowing Enchanter
We regret to inform you that the Enchanter in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen will literally blow your mind. Yes, we know, literally can now be used to mean figuratively, but we're using the classic definition here. Your mind will swell and burst. It will be messy and presumably uncomfortable. Well, all right, the class probably can't do that unless you're in the game, but if you do somehow occupy the game world, this class can totally do that. Assuming for a minute that you want to do something other than just make heads explode around you all day long, the Enchanter is set up to have a few more tricks. Enchanters can specialize as a Beguiler or a Phantasmist, with the former focusing on charms, stuns, and debuffs whilst the latter hypnotizes groups and uses them as a private army. Check out more details on the official class reveal page if you can't get enough of mind tricks. Or if you just want to know more about the head-explosion thing.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen unveils the Rogue class
Everyone knows that it's not truly a fantasy MMORPG without a stealth class, and Brad McQuaid's brainchild Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is no exception. In a post on the game's Kickstarter page today, the devs revealed that the latest class to join Pantheon's roster is the Rogue, everyone's favorite dagger-wielding, backstabbing shadowstepper. In Pantheon, Rogues will fill the roles of DPS and debuffer and notably will have the ability to disarm traps or even "alter the trigger so they fire on enemies only." In addition, Rogues looking for a bit more focus can specialize as an Assassin or a Planestalker. The Assassin is exactly what it sounds like: stab things, poison things, and generally make things more dead. Planestalkers, on the other hand, are described as Rogues "that have exposed themselves to the planar energies emanating from Terminus." The post notes that by doing so, they have "given up much oftheir influence on the physical plain," but in exchange, they can see and sever a creature's "magical connections," which can cause "ill effects" such as lowering a target's damage or hampering its spellcasting, so it would seem that they tend toward the debuffer end of the spectrum. If you want the full details on Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen and its latest class, just head on over to the game's official Kickstarter page.
The Game Archaeologist: The rise, fall, and rescue of Vanguard
I have been wanting to do an article on the whole saga (small pun intended) of Vanguard for some time, and now that Brad McQuaid has returned with plans to make what appears to be a very similar game, I need no more prompting to do it. The significance of Vanguard's development, release, ongoing drama, and its recent mild renaissance is of great interest not just to game historians but to everyone who plays MMOs, period. What happened with this game caused a huge fallout in the industry, and we are still feeling some of its effects even today. As our own Bree put it in her blog, "Vanguard's implosion was a big deal at the time and marked the beginning of the post-WoW destruction of the industry that hobbled Age of Conan and Warhammer Online a few years later." While the crash and burn of Vanguard was a very well-known tale several years ago, I'm wondering if in 2014 there might be many who are quite unfamiliar with what happened to this unassuming SOE game eight years ago. Let me put on my old fogey glasses and we shall begin!
Brad McQuaid on Pantheon's partnership with Shroud of the Avatar
If today's Pantheon Elf reveal and the news that the Kickstarter-hopeful Pantheon MMO has formed an alliance with Richard Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar for some cross-promotional goodies aren't enough for you, perhaps you'd like to hear some of the details from Visionary Realms' CCO Brad McQuaid himself. He provides a bit of insight on the decision to partner with SOTA, offers hints about what players can expect from the promotion besides the special cloak announced this morning, and touches on the impact of Vanguard's sunset on his fledgling MMO. Read on!
McQuaid and Garriott collaboration starts with cross-game cloak for backers
If you've supported the crowdfunding efforts of either Richard Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar or Brad McQuaid's Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, the devs have an offer for you: back both games and get a special cross-game reward. Starting today, fans will see the cross-promotion pledge tiers for both games, Pantheon's on its Kickstarter and SoA's on its website. The reward is a cloak in each game emblazoned with the symbol of the other game. The cloak reward -- which symbolizes community between players, developers, and even games -- is just the beginning of the collaboration between Visionary Realms and Portalarium. McQuaid stated, "The evolution of how MMOs are made is happening right now. We're getting back to having the gaming community deeply involved in how the games are not only funded, but designed. A collaboration like this one only makes sense to further strengthen that growing community that involves not just the players and backers, but the developers as well." [Source: Visionary Realms press release]
Pantheon posts Dwarf reveal, new pledge addons, McQuaid AMA [Updated]
With the imminent closure of Vanguard after seven years, there are a lot of eyes on Brad McQuaid's Kickstarter project for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. With 23 days to go on the project, McQuaid took to Reddit to answer a variety of fan questions about the game's design goals and his feelings about Vanguard's closure. He's sad to see his previous game close down, but he also states that he's happy it had seven years of life before it went. As for the design goals, if you had any doubt remaining that the game would be a very group-centric venture, McQuaid puts that theory to bed. He stresses again that the game is inheriting a variety of traditions from the original EverQuest, including corpse runs and uncapped raids for immense numbers of people. It's a throwback to an earlier time in MMO history, even if McQuaid does emphasize that the game should be playable in 1-2 hour increments. [Update: Pantheon's Kickstarter page has also just posted the Dwarf reveal and new pledge addons.]
